Capers Steakhouse, the Gratiot Avenue institution that quietly went dark in mid-2024, is coming back to life on Detroit's Far Eastside under new ownership. Robert Mitchell and Jalia Johnson are taking over the 42-year-old steakhouse and plan to keep its famous steak-by-the-ounce menu while adding a new twist: a cigar bar.
The original Capers opened in 1982 when founders Janina Parrott Jacobs and her husband Gary Jacobs bought a failing bar then known as the Carpet Room Lounge, despite neither having prior restaurant experience, according to Hour Detroit. Janina took over the kitchen at just 26 years old, having never cooked professionally before. What emerged from that gamble became a fixture at 14726 Gratiot Avenue, near the intersection with Manning Street, according to whatnow.com, sitting close to neighborhood staples like Peking Chinese Food, Detroit Blues Cafe, Embassy Coney Island, and Donnie's Rocket Used Cars.
Capers built its reputation on a custom steak-by-the-ounce ordering system that let diners choose the exact weight and cut of meat — Delmonico, T-bone, filet mignon, or New York strip — cut and broiled to order, a model that dates back to the early 1980s, as detailed by Model D Media. Per whatnow.com, the restaurant became known for its buttery steaks, with cuts running up to 22 ounces, alongside a menu of chicken wings, jumbo shrimp, onion rings, fries, and sandwiches.
A Sudden Closure and a Long Silence
Capers abruptly closed its doors on June 10, 2024, posting a notice that it was shutting temporarily for construction. That closure stretched well past a year, fueling widespread community speculation on social media over whether the neighborhood anchor would ever reopen, per the same account from Axios. Prior to that closure, the restaurant had operated continuously for 42 years on Gratiot Avenue, standing as one of the few remaining independent, sit-down steakhouses anchored in Northeast Detroit, the outlet notes.
In its original run, Capers sat roughly 80 patrons inside a wood-paneled dining room decorated with duck mascot memorabilia and fight posters, and the restaurant historically employed dedicated parking lot security guards to walk diners to their cars, according to the Detroit Metro Times. Dinner rushes routinely produced door waits of 15 to 30 minutes, the same report states.
New Owners, New Cigar Bar Concept
Under the reopening plan announced on social channels in February 2026, new owners Robert Mitchell and Jalia Johnson are teasing a fresh addition called the Capers Cigar Bar, offering premium cigars and craft cocktails alongside the food menu, according to a post shared on Facebook. Whatnow.com reports the new ownership intends to use fresh, locally sourced ingredients and hopes to create a welcoming and inclusive space that supports the broader Metro Detroit community. The reopening date has not yet been announced by the owners, per whatnow.com.
Capers' official online menu, posted in 2026, lays out some of the operational quirks that longtime fans will recognize: steaks over 18 ounces, except T-bones, must be butterflied if ordered medium-well or well-done, and sides include fries by the pound sold in handful, half-pound, and full-pound portions, according to the restaurant's own site, Capers Detroit. Beer and other drinks will also be served, whatnow.com adds.
A Corridor Getting a Broader Investment Push
Capers sits within the City of Detroit's Gratiot/7 Mile Strategic Neighborhood Fund planning area, a municipal framework finalized between 2019 and 2021 to guide commercial corridor investment, housing stabilization, and streetscape improvements in Regent Park, according to the City of Detroit. That boundary covers neighborhoods stretching between 8 Mile Road, Kelly Road, Houston-Whittier Avenue, and Schoenherr Road.
The steakhouse's revival also lands amid a wave of infrastructure spending along Gratiot Avenue. In July 2026, regional transit agency SMART secured a $25 million federal BUILD grant to fund transit shelters, pedestrian safety crossings, and traffic flow upgrades along a 23-mile stretch of the corridor connecting Detroit to Macomb County, according to The Michigan Chronicle. That follows a separate $12.5 million Safe Streets for All grant the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Detroit in September 2024 to redesign the entire Detroit stretch of Gratiot Avenue from 8 Mile Road to downtown, aimed at reducing vehicle crashes along a corridor with a historically high-injury traffic profile, per the City of Detroit.
For a Far Eastside neighborhood that has seen relatively few new full-service restaurant investments in recent years, Capers' return carries weight beyond just steak. Whether the new ownership can hold onto the steak-by-the-ounce pricing model that made the original spot a working-class favorite, even as food costs climb, remains an open question the owners have yet to publicly address.
